Cutting device



July 18, 1950 a. A. MILLER CUTTING DEVICE Filed Feb. 5, 1945 I N V EN 110R. Ira 4. M

Patented July 18, 1950 CUTTING DEVICE Ira A. Miller. Houston, Tex., assignor to Otis Pressure Control, Inc., Dallas, Tex., a corporation of Delaware Application February 5, 1945, Serial No. 576,301

22 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in cutting devices. and more particularly to devices adapted for cutting steel line in the bore of a well conductor. v

The increased use of removable subsurface well tools, such as removable subsurface chokes, regulators, safety valves, and the like, has resulted in an increased use of steel line running and pulling tools. These well tools are lowered into and removed from a well flow conductor upon a small solid steel line approximately .082" in diameter, and are frequently installed at depths as great as 10,000 feet below the surface of the well. In carrying out. such operations, the steel line will occasionally break at the surface and drop into the well conductor, or the subsurface tools will occasionally become stuck in the well flow conductor or will be blown up the conductor by well pressure, thus balling up or tangling the steel line in such a manner that it can not be removed from the conductor in the customary manner but must be cut loose to permit its removal. Since this steel line is flexible and resilient, it is difllcult, if not virtually impossible, to cut the line by means of a tool which threads over the line and is actuated by an upward pull. Also, when the line is bailed up or tangled, it is virtually impossible to cut the line with a device which is actuated by a downward jarring force unless there is some base or support for the cutting device.

It is, therefore, one object of the invention to 2 tion is to provide a steel line cutting device, of the character described, wherein the cutters engage the inner Wall of the well conductor to provide a base or support whereby the cutters may be positively forced to cut the dropped or stuck line.

Still another object of the invention is to provide, in a device of the character described, cutters positively actuated to assure cutting of the lost or stuck line.

A particular object of the invention is to provide a cutting device of the character described adapted to be lowered into the bore of the well provide an improved cutter, of the character described, adapted to be lowered into and removed from a well bore upon a flexible line or cable for cutting steel line which is stuck or dropped into the well conductor.

An important object of the invention is to provide a steel line cutter which may be run into the bore of a well conductor under pressure on a flexible line for the purpose of cutting a flexible steel line which has been dropped or stuck in the well conductor, such cutter being arranged to cut the dropped or stuck line without the necessity of threading the lost or stuck line through the cutter.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cutter of the character described provided with annularly disposed cutter blades arranged to cut a line located at any position in the annular space between the device and the wall of the well conductor, thus providing a substantially circular cutting surface assuring that the dropped or stuck line will be cut.

A particularly important object of the invenconductor past the line which is to be cut and which is adapted to be actuated at any desired depth in the conductor.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wire line cutter, of the character described, so constructed that the operator may resume the cutting operation if it is found that the dropped or stuck line has not been fully cut, and which is also so constructed that it may be removed from the well conductor even though the dropped or stuck steel line is not cut for any reason.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from a reading of the following description of a device constructed in accordance with the invention, and reference to the accompanying drawings thereof, wherein:

Figure 1 is a view, partly in elevation and partly in section, of a steel line cutter constructed in accordance with the invention, and showing the same being lowered into a well flow conductor.

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the device in cutting position.

Figures 3, 4 and 5 are enlarged horizontal crosssectional views taken on the lines 3-3, 4-8, and 5-5 of Figure 2, and

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the manner in which the cutter element is connected to the carrier.

In the drawings, the numeral l0 designates a mandrel having an axial bore Ii, counterbored at its upper end as illustrated at l2. The central ortion of the mandrel has an inverted frustoconical or expander section l3, while its reduced lower end portion I4 is cylindrical in form. An annular external flange I5 is formed on the mandrel between the frusto-conical section and the cylindrical lower end portion. This flange is provided with radial slots l8 spaced equidistant therearound and extending inwardly to approximately the exterior of the cylindrical lower end portion of the mandrel. Above the trust-conical section IS, the mandrel is formed with a reduced cylindrical section I! having an external annular flange l8 at its upper end. The flange is undercut at l9 to provide a retrieving connection or fishing-neck for engagement by a pulling or retrieving tool as will be hereinafter described. Inclined radially extending bypass ports 20 provide for communication between the bore of the mandrel and the exterior thereof at the upper end of the frusto-conical portion l3.

A plurality of cutter members 2| formed with enlarged cutter heads 22 and having depending elongate handles 23 are positioned on the mandrel, with the handles extending through the slots IS in the flange l5, and are slidable longitudinally of said mandrel. The lower end of each cutter handle is provided with an inverted T-shaped foot 24 which is movably retained in a corresponding inverted T-shaped radial slot 25 formed in the upper end of a tubular carrier member 26 slidably mounted upon the lower cylindrical portion l4 of the mandrel. The handles of the cutter members are retained within the slots I6 in the flange l by means of an annular band 21 fixed on the outer perihery of the flange, and the feet 24 are confined within the T-shaped slots 25 of the carrier member by means of a similar annular band 28 fixed on said member. As clearly illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the cutter handles are provided with an upwardly and outwardly flared portion 29 near their upper ends. This flared portion engages the band 21 on the mandrel flange, when the cutters are in the 1owermost position shown in Figure 1, to positively hold the cutter heads 22 in retracted position.

Each cutter head 22 is provided with an arcuate knifelike cutter tooth or blade 30' extending horizontally throughout the width of the cutter head. As clearly shown in Figures 1 through 3, alternate cutter heads are cut away so that the cutter blade 30 upon each such head will be partly coextensive with the cutter blade upon the adjacent head. In the form illustrated, four cutters are mounted on the mandrel, two of which cutters are formed with the cutter blade on the lower portion of the cutter head and two with the cutter blade formed on the upper portion of the cutter head. Manifestly, since these cutter blades are positioned so as to be partly coextensive with, or lap, the adjacent cutter blades, a substantialy annular cutter is provided.

Since the cutter heads 22 are larger than the handles 23 and since the lower ends of the handles are secured to the carrier 26, it is apparent that longitudinal movement of the cutters on the mandrel is limited by the engagement of the cutter heads and the carrier member with the flange IS on the mandrel.

The lower end portion of the carrier member 28 is reduced and provided with external screw threads 35, and an elongate cylindrical weight member 36, provided with a cylindrical bore 31 at its upper end, is connected by means of screw threads 38 within said bore to the lower end of the carrier member. Radial openings 39 provide communication between the bore 31 at the upper end of the weight member and the exterior of said member. The lower end of the weight member is preferably provided with a conical point 40. Well fluids may flow upwardly through the openings 39, the bore 31 of the weight member, the bore H of the mandrel, and the ports 20, to

by-pass the-cutter members or other enlarged portions of the device.

Obviously, the weight member will normally maintain the carrier member in its lower position and, thereby, maintain the cutter members in their lower or retracted position, as shown in Figure 1. However, upon relative downward longitudinal movement of the mandrel with relation to the carrier and cutters, the cutter heads will ride upwardly with relation to the frusto-conical section of the mandrel and be displaced radially outwardly thereby. Therefore, since the cutter blades are urged outwardly into contact with the wall of a well conductor C, any dropped, lost or stuck steel line (not shown) or similar article lying between the cutter blades and such well conductor will be out between such blades and the well conductor by means of the force transmitted to the cutter blades by the wedge action of the frusto-conical section of the mandrel.

A connecting or running member 4|, having an elongate depending reduced cylindrical shank 42, adapted to slidably telescope the counterbore l2 at the upper end of the mandrel, is arranged to be releasably secured to themandrel by means of a frangible pin 44 extending through holes provided in the upper cylindrical section ll of the mandrel and the cylindrical shank 42 of the lowering or connecting member. The upper end of the member 4| is provided with an upstanding screw threaded pin 45 by means of which the member may be connected to steel line lowering and operating tools (not shown), whereby the entire assembly may be lowered into the well conductor C. The downwardly facing shoulder 43 formed at the upper end of the cylindrical shank 42 of the running member is spaced from the upper end of the mandrel when said running member is connected to said mandrel by means of the shear pin, as is clearly shown in Figure 1. This permits the running member to be moved downwardly with relation to the mandrel to shear the pin 44. When, however, the frangible pin has been broken or sheared, the running member 4| moves downwardly with relation to the mandrel until the shoulder 43 engages the upper end of said mandrel, as illustrated in Figure 2, whereupon a solid jarring action of the steel line lowering tools (not shown) may be transmitted through the running member 4| to the mandrel to move said mandrel downwardly with relation to the cutters 22 and force the cutters outwardly, as has been described. Obviously, when the pin 44 has been fractured, the running member 4| may be lifted to remove the shank 42 from the counter-bore of the mandrel, and the steel line lowering tools (not shown), together with said running or connecting member 4|, may be removed entirely from the well conductor.

In use, the running member 4| is connected to the steel line lowering and operating tools (not shown), which tools are well known in the art and ordinarily consists of a jarring device, a weight member, and a socket providing for connection of such tools to the steel line by means of which the lowering tools and the cutting assembly are lowered into the well conductor. As the assembly is lowered into the well, the weight member 36 normally maintains the cutter members in their lower or retracted position, as has been explained.

Since there is ample annular clearance between the carrier member and the wall of the well conductor and between the flange l5 and the wall of the said conductor, the assembly may be lowered past a small steel line which has been lost or stuck in the well conductor without the necessity of threading the lost or stuck line through the cutter assembly. Ordinarily, the dropped or lost steel line will form in helical convolutions contacting the inner wall of the well conductor, and the cutter assembly may readily be lowered past such'line. The line may, however, form a ball" below which the cutter may not be lowered, in which case the line must be cut at the ball.

When the depth at which it is desired to cut the line has been reached, or when the weight member engages an obstruction, such as the ball, sudden continued downward movement of the lowering tools will cause the mandrel In to move downwardly with relation to the carrier member and cutter members and thus force the cutter members outwardly into engagement with the wall of the well flow conductor. Since the cutter blades provide a substantially circular cutting surface, it will be obvious that such cutter blades will engagethe lost or stuck line at some point about the inner periphery of the well conductor. The engagement of the cutter blades with the conductor prevents downward movement of the cutter members and continued downward movement of the lowering tools and the imparting of a hammer-like blow by means of such tools to the running member 4! will then shear the pin 44 and cause the shoulder 43 on the running member to engage the upper end of the mandrel Ill. Further downward jarring will drive the frustoconical section I3 of the mandrel downwardly with relation to the cutter heads 22 and further force said cutter heads outwardly to cause the cutter blades to' cut the steel line lying between said cutter blades and the inner wall-of the Well conductor. Thus, it will be seen that the engagement of the cutter members with the well conductor provides a base or support for the device and permits positive actuation of the cutter blades to cut the line at the desired location in the well.

After the lost or stuck line has been cut, as described above, the lowering tools (not shown) and the running member M may be moved upwardly and removed entirely from the well conductor. A steel line spear or grab is than lowered into the well conductor to engage the cut off portion of the lost line and remove it from the bore of the conductor. A suitable retrieving tool may then be lowered into the conductor to engage the fishing-neck at the upper end of the mandrel. An upward pull on such retrieving tool will move the mandrel upwardly with relation to the cutter members, whereupon the tapered section 23 on the handle of the cutter member will cause the cutter heads to be moved inwardly to their retracted position. The assembly may thus be removed upwardly from the well conductor. v

- Obviously, if the desired amount of the lost or stuck steel line has not been cut and removed from the well conductor on the first attempt,

the cutter assembly may be again lowered into the well conductor past more of the steel line to out said line at a lower position, and the portion then cut off may be removed from the well conductor as previously described. From the foregoing, it will be seen that an im proved steel line cutter has been provided which may be run into the bore of the well conductor under pressure on a flexible line for the purpose of cutting a dropped, lost or stuck steel line, said cutter being capable of cutting the stuck or lost line without the necessity of threading such line through the cutter. Further, it will be seen that the engagement of the cutter membe out and removed from the conductor.

bers with the wall of the conductor and the pro vision of the substantially circular cutting blades assures that the lost or stuck line will be cut regardless of its position in the conductor, and that the cutters are positively actuated by the frustoconical section to assure positive cutting of the line.

It will also be seen that the cutting device is adapted to be lowered into the bore of the well conductor past the line which is to be cut and. since the engagement of the cutter members with the conductor provides a base or support, the device is further adapted to be actuated at any desired depthin the conductor, whereby any desired length of the lost or stuck steel line may thermore, if it is found that the. dropped or stuck line has not been cutfor any reason, the operator may resume the cutting operations by re-lowering the cutting device into the well conductor and again hammering the mandrel downwardly between the cutter heads as has been described.

The foregoing description of the invention is explanatory only, and changes in the details'of the construction illustrated may be made by those skilled in the art within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A device for cutting a line in a tube including, support means, and cutting means movably carried by the support means and movable with respect to said support means for cutting a line exteriorly of said support means at any position circumferentially of said support means.

2. A device for cutting a line in a tube including, a support, and cutting means carried by the support and expansible to cutting position upon relative movement between the support and cutting means, said cutting means including arcuate external blades lapping to provide a substantially annular cutting surface.

3. A cutting device in accordance with claim 16, wherein the cutting means is retractable from cutting position.

4. A cutting device for steel lines including, a mandrel, an expander section on the mandrel, cutter members carried by the mandrel and movable thereon, cutting blades on the cutter members, said blades providing a substantially annular cutting surface, said cutting blades being movable to cutting position by the expander section upon relative movement between said section and the cutter members.

5. A cutting device in accordance with claim 4, wherein the cutter members are retractable from cutting position.

6. A cutting device adapted to be inserted in a well flow conductor for cutting a line therein and including, a mandrel having an expander section thereon, cutter members carried by the Furmandrel and having external arcuate cutter blades thereon adapted to be expanded to cutting position by the expander section of the mandrel upon relative movement between the mandrel and cutter members, and means for operably connecting the mandrel with a steel line lowering tool whereby said cutting device may be lowered into a well conductor and operated therein.

7. A cutting device adapted to be run in a well flow conductor for cutting a line therein and 7 including, a mandrel having a irusto-conical section and an axially aligned cylindrical section, expansible cutting means slidable longitudinally on said irusto-conical section, a carrier slidable longitudinally on the cylindrical section, connecting means operativeLv connecting said car- 'rier and said expansible cutting means, said cutting means being. adapted to be expanded to cutting position within the well flow conductor upon relative longitudinal movement between the mandrel and carrier in one direction, means on the connecting means for moving the cutter means into retracted position upon relative movement between the carrier and mandrel in the opposite direction, and means for operably connecting the mandrel with a steel line lowering tool whereby the cutting device may be run in the well flow conductor and operated therein. 8. A cutting device in accordance with claim 7, where the means for connecting the mandrel with a steel line lowering tool is releasable.

9. A cutting device in accordance with claim "7, wherein the mandrel is provided with a retriev- 7, wherein the mandrel is provided with a longitudinal fluid flow passage.

13. A cutting device adapted to be run in a well flow conductor for cutting a flexible line therein and including, a mandrel having an expander section thereon, a carrier movable on the mandrel, cutter members carried by the mandrel and operably connected with the carrier, ancuate external cutter blades on the cutter members adapted to be expanded to cutting position by the expander section upon relative movement between the mandrel and cutter members. releasable means for connecting the mandrel with a tool for running the cutting device in a well flow conductor and operating it therein, and mean for retracting the cutter members.

14. A cutting device adapted to be inserted in a well flow conductor for cutting a line therein and including, a mandrel, cutter members carried by the mandrel and actuated by relative movement between the mandrel and said members, said members being moved into engagement with the wall of the well conductor to provide for positive actuation of said members to cutting position at that location.

15. A cutting device adapted to be inserted in a well flow conductor for cutting a line therein and including, a mandrel having expander means thereon, external arcuate cutter means carried by the mandrel and movable thereon, said cutter means being adapted to be expanded into engagement with a, well conductor by said expander means upon relative movement between the mandrel and said cutter means, the engagement of the cutter means with the conductor providing a support for positive cutting actuation of the cutter means.

8 16. A cutting device for cutting a line in a tube including, a support, and cutting means carried by the support and movable to cutting position upon relative movement between the support and said cutting means, said cutting means providing substantially a full circumferential external cutting surface.

1'7. A cutting device for cutting a line in a tube including, support means, cutting means movably carried by the support means, and means for moving said cutting means to cutting position,- said cutting means providing substantially a full circumferential external cutting surface.

18. In a cutting device, a cutter body which has a downwardly tapering portion, a blade support slidable on the body, outwardly movable blades mounted on the blade support and arranged to be expanded by said tapering portion upon downward movement of the body. said Support being adapted to hold the blades against downward movement, by inertia, as the body moves downwardly.

19. In a cutting device, a cutter body which includes a mandrel having an expander, a blade support movable, by inertia, relative to the body, blades on the support around the body arranged to be expanded by said expander upon such movement.

20. In a cutting device shaped to be lowered into a well pipe, a cutter body which includes a mandrel having a blade expander, a. blade support slidable on the body, supporting arms upstanding from said upport around the expander, outwardly directed blades on said arms, said support being adapted to be held, by inertia, as the mandrel and expander are moved to expand the blades.

21. In a cutting device shaped to be lowered into a pipe in a, well, a cutter body which includes a mandrel having a blade expander, a blade support movable by inertia relative to the body, upstanding, outwardly movable arms on the support, outwardly directed blades on the arms, said expander being arranged to move the arms and blades outwardly upon downward movement of the body relative to the support.

22. In a cutting device shaped to be lowered into a well pipe, a cutter body which includes a mandrel having a blade expander, a blade support slidable on the body, supporting arms upstanding from said support around the expander, outwardly directed blades on said arms arranged to be initially moved into contact with the pipe, upon initial downward movement of the expander to support the tool in the pipe, and impact means, under the control of an operator for driving the body and expander further downwardly between the arms to expand the arm and blades to cause the blades to penetrate into the pipe.

IRA A. MILLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,027,918 Smith May 28, 1912 1,638,494 Lewis Aug. 9, 1927 2,208,011 Anderson July 16, 1940 2,351,929 Davidson June 20, 1944 Certificate of Correction 7 Patent No. 2,515,377 July 18, 1950 IRA A. MILLER It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows:

Column 2, line 53, for frust-conical read frusto-comlcal; column 3, line 23, for "perihery read periphery; column 6, line 46, for the claim reference numeral 16 read 1;

and that the said Letters Patent should be read as corrected above, so that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

.Signed and sealed this 17th day of October, A. D. 1950.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Gammissioner of Patents. 

